I'm not new to biking but new to the Goldwing. I picked up my new 2010 GL1800 yesterday. The owner's manual isn't really clear as to the correct setting for a particular load. I'm 200lbs, my girlfriend is 125lbs. What would be a good setting for 1 up and 2 up riding? I'm not too particular, but the girlfriend doesn't like feeling the bumps. Thanks.

This suggestion is based on an explanation of the design of the rear suspension system on the 1800 by Mr. Tom Finch. Tom is a very wise man on things of this nature and is the owner of Tailwind Motorcycle Trailer Manufacturing:Raise the preload to the max. of 25 and go riding!Myself and my wife had searched for the correct preload setting, never finding the "sweet spot" until I read Tom's article on another board.I did this without telling my wife.During our first ride after setting it at 25, my wife asked me what I had done as she was no longer feeling the harsh bumps. She is not normally the type person that would notice such things.Give it a try and see what you think.Mine stayed on 25 from then on, until I triked last year.

I also found the rear of the goldwing under sprung and ran 25 with my wife (we are a bit lighter than your weight 175 + 110lbs). I fitted a stiffer spring from Traxxion dynamics and then ran about a 10 on the preload. Eventually I replaced the entire shock and now run about 8 on pre-load, but if you have the stock shock and spring, I would suggest running almost max pre-load as the standard spring is really too weak for the weight of the wing.

Thanks guys. I could have gone a long time without discovering this one on my own. I am going to swap out the spring for a proggressive and do the front forks too. This is one thing the Honda dealership salesperson told me about wings. He said the front forks were too soft.

Definitely a good thing to do, I have a traxxion front end and rear shock and it just made such a big difference to the ride comfort and the bikes handling, you wont regret the change, the only thing to watch out is that the bike will sit higher after the upgrade so you might have a little bit more trouble touching the ground when you stop. I am 6'2" and have no issue, but people with shorter legs might find themselves on tip-toe after the traxxion or Progressive upgrade.

Yeah, I guess that could be an issue alright. I am 5'8" so if there is going to be an issue, I will have it. Do the suspension settings actually raise or lower the bike, or are they just a firmness feature?

The bike does get higher after changing the shocks and fork springs because the standard suspension just collapses under the weight of the wing, the Traxion and Progressive don't so the bike sits an inch or so higher than stock.. Any adjustments after that don't really change the bike height just the ride firmness, but the first time you get on the bike, be prepared for it to sit a bit higher than before!!